Page:Meda - a tale of the future.djvu/246

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242
MEDA:

pointing to the part of England at which the docks were situated. How very simple this beautiful instrument made the science of navigation. I asked the commander if it could always be relied on, he told me that it was very accurate, but when at sea, he said that all commanders made it a rule to check and adjust it by the sun and stars.

In going through the vessel the commander explained that she was almost entirely used for passenger service. There were numerous little state rooms, and the same leading feature that I had seen in connection with everything in this strange country was here. This feature was that everything in some measure is devoted to instruction.

Here, on board this ship I found three great rooms or cabins, fitted up as lecture halls. The first we entered was the "Hall of Practical Navigation;" the second was the "Hall of Forces of Marine Propulsion;" this, I was given to understand, included all kinds of apparatus for propelling, retarding or anchoring